Apparatus for indicating the available seating accommodation at places of entertainment



Nov. 16, 1948. R. A. FLETCHER EI'AL 2,453,838

APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE AVAILABLE SEATING ACCOUHODATION AT PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT Filed Feb. 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A PE IV T4 GE IND/CA 70R 1, A? B C 101/ mmr/c 4 7' I v04 (/ME' 6 co/vmx LPERCE/V TAG/5' J RECORD/N6 ME TER TIME DEM) J JW/ 727/56 TIC/(E T DISPENSER Inventors R0) ALA/V FLE TC/IE)? LESLIE HAROLDBEVA/Y B fiom F/JMM A tlorneys- Nov. 16, 1948. R. A. FLETCHER ETAL 2,453,338

APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE AVAILABLE SEATING ACCQWODATION AT PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT Filed m.- 19, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m 8 m w. mww FR m 0 A I. HMA VA mLw AL VI. 5 W5 RL Patented Nov. 16, 1948 APPARATUS FOR INDI ABLE SEATING A PLACES OF ENTERT CATING THE AVAIL- CCOMMODATION AT AINMENT Roy Alan Fletcher and Leslie Harold Bevan,

London, England 7 Application February 19, 1946, Serial No.

In Great Britain September 9, 1943 8 Claims.

This invention relates to the seats in places of entertainment.

In places of entertainment, particularly cinemas, which are relatively dark, a great deal of inconvenience is experienced because it cannot be easily determined how much seating accommodation is available and where the available seats are located. Inconvenience is also experienced owing to the dlfilculty of patrons finding their way to their seats in the dark even when the whereabouts of the empty seats has been ascertained.

The present invention has among its objects the provision of improved means for obviating these inconveniences. The invention also has other objects and advantages which will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the provision of electric switches of the mercury type associated with the respective seats and adapted to, control respective circuits according to whether the seats are at the down or the tipped-up position, in such a way that, when a seat is at the tipped-up position, a visible indication thereof is given at some suitable locality or localities remote from the seat, and/or a light is energised in the immediate vicinity of the seat to guide patrons into said seat, and/or in such a way that, when every seat of a given price is at the down position, an automatic ticket issuing machine for issuing tickets of that price is rendered inoperative.

In order that the invention may be the more clearly understood a system in accordance therewith will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a circuit diagram illustrative of said system.

Figure 2 is a somewhat diagrammatic plan of a portion of the auditorium showing the ends of several rows of seats.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the end of a row of seats.

I Figure 4 is an elevation shown partly in section of the seat proper of one of the seats, shown at the tipped-up position.

Figure 5 is a similar view of the same shown at the down or occupied position.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a.portion of an indicator located at the ends of the rows of seats.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a portion of an indicator located in the box oflice.

Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of an alternative form of switch to that shown in Figures 4 and 5, said alternative switch being shown at the down position of the seat.

Figure 9 is a similar view of the same shown at the tipped-up position of the seat.

Referring to the drawings the reference I designates the seat structure in general and the ret- 2 erence 2 designates the seats proper which are of the tilting up type which automatically swing to an up or inoperative position as soon as they are vacated. Each seat proper 2 has mounted in it a mercury switch 3 only four of which are shown in Figure 1. Each switch 3 has three contacts 4, 5 and 6 and the arrangement is such that, when any seat proper 2 is at the down or occupied position all three contacts 4, 5, and 6 of the respective switch are disconnected from each other, and, when said seat proper is tilted to the up or unoccupied position, the contacts 4 and 5 are first almost immediately bridged by the mercury in the switch, and when said seat has remained tipped for about 180 seconds, the contact 6 is also bridged by said mercury. The whole electric system is supplied from alternating current mains LI, L2 through a transformer T. One output terminal of said transformer T is connected to a conductor 1, and the other is connected, through devices A, B and C which will be hereinafter described, to a conductor 8. The conductor 1 is connected to all the contacts 4. Each contact 5 is connected, through a respective pea lamp 9, to the conductor 8. Each contact 6 is connected, through a receiving switch In, to two pea lamps i i and I2 in parallel, and the energising winding l3 of a relay, to the conductor 8.

The pea lamps 9, covered by shades 9a, are located at the bottom of the respective seats proper 2, so that, when each one is energised, it lights up the ground at the foot of its seat.

Located in the aisles at the ends of the rows of seats are indicators l4. Each of these indicators l4 comprises a structure forming a bank of compartments IS in which are respectively located the pea lamps l l appertaining to the seats of that particular row. The compartments [5 are open at the side facing the aisle save for a common sheet 18 of translucent material which covers the open sides of all the compartments and is inscribed over the respective compartments with numerals representing the seats which correspond thereto. Thus if any pea lamp is energised, the numeral representing the corresponding seat will be lighted up.

Located in the :box oilice or foyer is a master indicator IT. This master indicator l1 comprises a structure forming a bank of compartments la in which are respectively located the pea lamps 12. The compartments I 8 are all open at one side save for a common sheet IQ of translucent material which covers the open sides of all the compartments. The compartments are arranged in rows corresponding to the rows of .seats, and the sheet I 9 is inscribedover the respective compartments with numerals representing the seats which correspond thereto. The sheet i 9 is also inscribed at the appropriate positions with characters designating the rows.

assaaas The switches 10 are also mounted in the indicator structure so that the hand levers thereof project through the sheet I9 to the outside and are adjacent to the numerals to which they correspond. These switches H! are normally closed and when they are opened by hand they are adapted to close after a given time interval.

The relays [3 are normally open and all those appertaining to seats of the same price have their contacts connected in parallel in the energlsing circuit of an automatic ticket issuing machine 20 for issuing tickets of the price of the seats to which said relay belongs. Thus, in Figure 1 it is assumed that the two upper switches 3 belongto seats of one price and the two lower switches 3 belong to seats of another price.

The operation of the system will now be clear: Assuming that all the seats 6 are occupied and have their seats proper 2 at the down position the circuits will all he deenergised and all the pea lamps will be extinguished and all the re= lays [13 will be open.

Therefore the usherette in the cinema will he able to see from the extinguished pea lamps it that the seats are all occupied. The attendants in the box office or ioyer will be able to see from the extinguished pea lamps 02 that the seats are all occupied and the ticket issuing machines ill will all be inoperative. Incidentally it may be here mentioned that in practice the relays l8 and ticket-issuing machines it would not nor-= mally be employed when the pea lamps it are employed. But for the salze of economy of drawing space they are lcoth shown together in Figure l and will be so described.

now any seat is vacated and accordingly has its seat proper tipped-up, the contacts d and of the respective switch 3 will be immediately bridged, and the pea lamp on the loottom of that seat will he energised and illuminated. The contacts Q and 8 will however not immediately be bridged and thus the pea lamps ii and i2 and the relay belonging to that seat will not immediately be energised. If the person vacating that seat only leaves it for a short time and then returns the pea lamp {J will help to guide him each to his seat and will then be extinguished when he turns the seat to the down position. If, however, the said person has vacated that seat permanently the contacts l, '5 will be bridged alter an interval of say 1% seconds and the pea lamps it and i2 belonging to that seat will beconie illuminated, thereby informing both the usherette within the theatre and the attendants in. the foyer or box oifioe that that particular seat is vacant. Also the relay t3 belonging to that seat will be energised and will close so that the machine for issuing tickets of the price of that seat will become operative. When a ticket is sold for that seat the attendant in the hon office or foyer may open the switch iii appertaining to that seat and thus the pea lamps i i and i2 appertaining to that seat will be instantly extinguished, and he relay it belonging to that seat will again drop out so that, assuming that seat to be the only vacant one of its price the ticket-issuing machine ill for that price will again become inoperative. After a given interval the switch it will re-close but by that time the patron will have occupied his seat so that the circuit will have been broken at 3,

It will thus be seen that, whenever a seat is tipped up, a lamp 9 will light up to guide a patron in i'eoccupying that seat, and, whenever a seat has been tipped up tor given interval, indica tion of that fact will be given both tothe usherettes in the theatre and to the attendants in the box ofllce or foyer. Moreover, where ticket-issuing machines 20 are employed each one will be operative while there is at least one seat of its price unoccupied and will be inoperative when all the seats of its price are occupied.

The devices A, B and C are connected in circuit with all the seat switches of the theatre, and it will be seen that the amount of current passing through them at any given time will be an inverse measure of the number of people in the house. The device A is a percentage recordln meter and plots on a time base a record of the percentage to the extent of which the house has been filled. The device B is a percentage indi-= cater and gives a reading oi the momentary per centage to the extent of which the house is filled. The device (3 is an automatic volume control device which automatically controls the sound vol ume so as to increase it and decrease it according as the theatre is filled to greater or less capacity,

hieierring now to Figures i and 5 it will be seen that the mercury. switch 3 is made as two separate vessels 2i and 22. The vessel all has a neclr till Ill

through the neclr 23 into the vessel which projects in one direction through an opening into the vessel 2?. and is sealed in said opening, and the vessel 22 has a neck M which projects in the opposite direction through an opening into the vessel 2i and is sealed in said opening, and the arrangement is such that, when the seat proper 2 is at the down position shown in Figure 5 all the mercury 25 runs irtun the vessel through the neck 2G into the vessel 2 l, whereas, when the seat is at the up position shown in Fig ure 4, all the mercury runs from the vessel 2G The con tactsl, and it are all within the vessel 22 so that, when the switch is at the seat-occupied position of Figure 5, these contacts are all disconnected as previously described. When the switch is at the seat-vacated position of Figure 4, the contacts l, 5 and all become connected when the whole of the mercury G6 has run into the vessel 22. The egress passage for the mercury through the neck 23 however is small, so that the mercury runs through it slowly into the vessel 22, and thus, as will he clearly seen from the drawing, when the switch assumes the position of Figure 4, the mercury M will quickly make contact with the contacts 6 and '5 which are then at the bottom of the vessel 22, whereas it will only maize contact with the contact it also, when almost the full amount of mercury has run in, say after ltd seconds The necl; 2 3 has a wide mouth so that when the switch is tilted bacl: to the seatoccupied position of Figure 5 the mercury runs substantially instantaneously into the vessel The switch is encased in a casing Referring now to Figures ii and 9, these illustrate an alternative form of switch which may be employed in place or the switch 3 in Figures 4 and 5. In Figure 9 the switch is shown at the tipped-up position of the seat proper *2 and in Figure 8 it is shown at the down position.

in this switch it there is a single envelope consisting of two compartments 2i and 2d separated by means of a restricted neck Contacts to, he and 6a, which are exactly equivalent to the contacts t, 5 and t of the switch 3, are located in the compartment 2i, and when the seat proper is tipped to the up position and compartment 2'5 is-downwards as in Figure 9 the mercury 25 flows slowly from the compartment 28 into the corn partment 21, bridging the contacts la and 5a almost immediately and bridging the contacts to and 6a after an interval just as in the case of switch 3.

When the seat proper is turned to the down position, and compartment 28 is downwards, as in Figure 8, the mercury will immediately disconnect all the contacts la, 5a and Baby running to the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 8, but the mercury will take some time to run fully in the compartment 28. The consequence is that if a seat should be momentarily turned to the down position, the pea lamps H and 12, as well as the pea lamp 9, will be de-energised only momentarily and will be re-energised as soon as the seat is allowed to swing back to its tipped-up position. Thus a mischievous child pulling seats down and letting them swing back would only extinguish the pea lamps momentarily.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In places of entertainment or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind, electric switches associated with said sects respectively, each of said switches including an envelope mounted on the tip-up portion of the respective seat, a body of mercury in said envelope, contacts exposed in said envelope and means whereby, in

response to said envelope being tilted by said seat being operated from the tipped-down to the tipped-up position, said mercury runs through a restricted orifice to a position in said envelope such that, when a sufllcient amount of mercury has passed through said orifice, it bridges said contacts, and, in response to said envelope being tilted back by said seat being operated to the tipped-down position, said mercury unbridges said contacts substantially instantaneously, re-

mote indicators associated with said seats respectively, and means whereby in response to the contacts of a switch being bridged, the corresponding remote indicator gives indication that the corresponding seat is vacant, and, in response to said contacts being unbrldged, said remote indicator gives indication that said seat is occupied.

2. In places of entertainment or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, each of said switches including an envelope mounted on the tip-up portion of the respective seat, a body of mercury in said envelope, said envelope having two parts which communicate through a relatively large orifice and through a relatively small orifice, contacts exposed in one of said parts of said envelope, and means whereby, in response to said envelope being tilted by said seat being operated from the tipped-down to the tipped-up position, said mercury runs slowly through said small orifice from the other part into said one part of said envelope, and, when a sufficient amount of mercury has passed into said one part, it bridges said contacts, and, in response to said envelope being tilted back by said seat being operated to the tipped-down position said mercury runs substantially instantaneously through said large orifice back to said other part of said envelope, remote indicators associated with said seats respectively, and means whereby in response to the contacts of a switch being bridged, the corresponding remote indicator gives indication that the corresponding seat is vacant, and, in response to said contacts being unbridged, said remote indicator gives indication that said seat is occupied.

3. In places-of entertainment, or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, each of as. d switches including an envelope mounted on the tip-up portion of the respective seat, said envelope having two parts which communicate through a relatively small orifice, a body of mercury in said envelope. contacts exposed in one of said parts of said envelope, and means whereby, in response to said envelope bein tilted by said seat being operated from the tipped-down to the tipped-up position, said mercury runs slowly through said small orifice from the other part into said one part of said envelope, and, when a suillcient amount of mercury has passed into said one part, it bridges said contacts, and, in

response to said envelope being tilted back by said seat being operated to the tipped-down position said mercury runs substantially instantaneously to a position in said one part of said envelope where it unbridges said contacts, and thereafter runs slowly through said small orifice back to said other part of said envelope, remote indicators associated with said seats respectively, and means whereby in response to the contacts of a switch being bridged, the corresponding remote indicator gives indication that the corresponding seat is vacant, and, in response to said contacts being unbridged, said remote indicator gives indication that said seat is occupied- 4. In places of entertainment or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, each of said switches including an envelope mounted on the tip-up portion of the respective seat, a body of mercury in said envelope, contacts exposed in said envelope and means whereby, in response to said envelope being tilted by said seat beingoperated from the tipped-down to the tipped-up position, said mercury runs through a restricted orifice to a position in said envelope such that, when a relatively small amount of mercury has passed through said orifice, it bridges certain of said contacts, and, when a relatively large amount of mercury has passed through said orifice it bridges other of said contacts, and, in response to said envelope being tilted back by said seat being operated to the tipped-down position, said mercury unbridges both said certain contacts and said other contacts substantially instantaneously, remote indicators associated with said seats respectively and adjacent lamps associated with said jseats respectively, and means whereby, in response to said certain contacts of a switch being bridged and unbridged, the corresponding lamp is respectively energized and de-energized, and in response to said other'contacts 01' said switch being bridged and urn-bridged, the corresponding indicator gives indication that the corresponding seat is unoccupied and occupied respectively.

5. In a place of entertainment or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind of the same price, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, an automatic ticket issuing machine for issuing tickets of the said price, means con.- trolled by said switches whereby, in response to a seat being moved to the tipped-up position, the corresponding switch is operated to a first state, and in response to said seat being moved to the tipped-down position, said switch is operated to a second state, and means whereby in response to any of said switches being at said first state said ticket-issuing machine is rendered operative, and, in response to all of said switches being at said aeeaeas second state, said ticket-issuing machine is rendered inoperative.

6. In a place of entertainment or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind including seats of the same price, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, remote electric indicators associated with said seats respectively, an automatic ticket-issuing machine for issuing tickets of the said price, means whereby, in response to a seat being moved to the tipped-up position, the corresponding switch is operated to a first state, and in response to said seat being moved to the tipped-down position, said switch is operated to a second state, means whereby, in response to said switch being operated to said first state, the corresponding remote electric indicator gives indication that said seat is vacant, and, in response to said switch being operated to said second state, said remote electric indicator gives indication that said seat is occupied, ,and means whereby, in response to any of the switches of the said price being at said first state said ticket-issuing machine is rendered operative, and, in response to all of said switches of the said price being at said second state, said ticket-issuing machine is rendered inoperative.

7. In places of entertainment or the like, a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, remote electric indicators associated with said seats respectively, means whereby in response to a seat being moved to the tipped-up position, the corresponding switch is operated to a first state, and, in response to said seat being moved to the tipped-down position, said switch is operated to a second state, means whereby, in response to said switch being operated to said first state, the corresponding remote electric indicator gives indication that said seat is vacant, and, in response to said switch being operated to said second state, said remote electric indicator gives indication that said seat is occupied, and'a measuring instrument controlled jointly by all of said switches and adapted to give a measure of the extent to which the seats are occupied.

8. In a talking cinema a plurality of seats of the tip-up kind, electric switches associated with said seats respectively, means whereby, in response to a seat being moved to the tipped-up position, the corresponding switch is operated to a first state, and, in response to said seat being moved to the tipped-down position, said switch is operated to a second state, a device for controlling the speech volume, and means whereby said device is controlled by all of said switches Jointly so as to vary the speech volume according to the number of switches at said first state and at said second state.

ROY ALAN FLETCHER. LESLIE HAROLD BEVAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Aug. 9, 1940 

